Grossman weighs governor bid in '14

BOSTON -- After next Tuesday's national election, Treasurer Steven Grossman will start thinking and talking about 2014, and whether he should make a run for governor.

"Over the next couple months I'm going to sit down with my family and I'm going to figure out with them how I can best help the people of the commonwealth going forward," Grossman said. He said to interpret that as "Steve's going to take a hard look at running for governor in 2014 -- that would be an entirely accurate statement."

Grossman is not alone among Massachusetts Democrats who have publicly acknowledged thinking about a run for the corner office in two years. During the Democratic National Convention Lt. Gov. Tim Murray told reporters, "Obviously it's something that I'm going to consider and look at seriously."

Gov. Deval Patrick has said he will not run for re-election in 2014, and has said that after leaving the governorship he will enter the private sector.

Grossman ran for governor in 2002, entering a primary field of five candidates before dropping out over the summer and endorsing Treasurer Shannon O'Brien, who went on to lose against Republican Mitt Romney.

Grossman stepped into the 2010 race for treasurer just as then-Treasurer Tim Cahill was making up his mind to challenge Patrick as an independent candidate for governor. Grossman won the primary by an 18 percent margin over Boston City Councilor Stephen Murphy, and then bested Republican opponent, former Rep.

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Karyn Polito, by 9 percentage points.

Grossman said he has not had conversations with other politicians about the prospect of making a run, setting aside those considerations until after Nov. 6. Up until then, Grossman said, he is concentrating on steering the treasury and on helping elect Democrats, such as Elizabeth Warren, whom he has phone-banked for in his hometown of Newton, and President Barack Obama.

"Barbara and I have talked a little bit about this and we basically said, 'Let's take time after the election to really get into this subject matter in terms of my future and how I can best serve the people of the commonwealth," Grossman said, referring to his wife, a Tufts University drama professor. He said, "I just have put this one aside until after Nov. 6."

Patrick deserves the credit for leading Massachusetts through the Great Recession so that it is now considered a place "with great prospects for the future," Grossman said.

"I would give the governor very high marks for his leadership of this commonwealth," Grossman said. He said, "Deval Patrick has set a tone, has set a foundation."

Patrick and Grossman have similar backgrounds, in business, Grossman pointed out. Grossman stepped into the family business - then the Massachusetts Envelope Company; now called Grossman Marketing Group - which he has since passed on to his sons. After serving as a civil rights attorney for the Clinton administration, Patrick went to work as counsel to Texaco and Coca Cola before leaving the corporate world. Grossman served a different role during the Clinton administration, as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

After meeting with his family and then others, Grossman said, he would make up his mind quickly on whether to run.

"I consider myself to be a fairly decisive person," Grossman said. He said, "I think one of the qualities of leadership that people respect is the ability to be decisive."

Other names have come up as possible contenders on both the Republican and the Democratic side, including Republican Charlie Baker, who challenged Patrick in 2010, losing by 6.3 percentage points in a three-way race with Cahill.

Baker and Grossman appeared on Broadside with Jim Braude earlier in October, where neither man ruled out the possibility of a run and neither proposed a potential candidate in his own party.

When Grossman was asked who he thought might run for governor in 2014, he referred to Baker and said, "I think this guy right here, don't you think?"

When Baker was asked about who might run on the Democratic ticket, he patted Grossman on the back and said, "This guy's doing a fabulous job right where he is."

The two were also asked about the theory that former Gov. Bill Weld - whom Baker served as secretary of administration and finance - might run for U.S. Senate if Sen. John Kerry is appointed secretary of state. Baker said, "I love Bill Weld." Grossman said, "I've known Bill Weld a long time and I hope he stays a lawyer in the private sector."

In April, Attorney General Martha Coakley said she intended to run for a third four-year term.

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